Heretofore, connector devices to be used for connecting an electrical wire and aboard are known. A contact is attached to a tip of the electrical wire. A conventional connector device includes a plug connector in which the contact is inserted into a housing, and a receptacle connector that is to be mounted to the board.
A contact to be used for such a connector device is disclosed in JP H06-223665 A (hereinafter referred to as “Document 1”), for example. A plug connector in a state in which the contact attached to an electrical wire is inserted into a housing is inserted into a receptacle connector, and as a result, the contact in the plug connector is electrically connected to a post in the receptacle connector. Accordingly, a core wire of the electrical wire attached to the contact is electrically connected to an electrically conductive member that is connected to the post.
However, with the conventional connector, in the case where vibration is applied to at least one of the plug connector and the electrical wire in a state in which the plug connector is coupled to the receptacle connector, the contact attached to the electrical wire vibrates. That is, in the conventional connector, the contact vibrates in a state in which a contact portion of the contact is in contact with the post. Therefore, there is a problem in that wear of the contact portion occurs in the conventional connector, in particular, in the case where the connector device is mounted on a car, the vibration that occurs in the contact is frequent and large, and as a result, the possibility of the contact portion of the contact being worn away becomes very high.
Note that, a connector in which a fitting state with a partner member is held by a lever is known as a conventional connector (refer to JP 2012-38570 A (hereinafter referred to as “Document 2”), for example).
A female connector (connector) described in Document 2 includes a lock arm (lever provided with an engagement protrusion portion. The lock arm is formed such that the front end portion thereof is connected to a housing of the female connector and the rear end portion thereof is free.
When the female connector including such a lock arm starts to be inserted into the male connector, the lock arm is bent due to a pushing force generated by a user or by the housing of the male connector. Furthermore, when the female connector has been inserted into the male connector, the engagement protrusion portion is engaged with a projection portion of the male connector. Accordingly, the female connector described in Document 2 is fixed to the male connector.
Incidentally, because the rear end portion of the lock arm is free in such a connector, in the case where a hand or an object catches on the rear end portion of the lock arm, it is possible that the lock arm is turned up or an excessive force is applied to the lock arm.
Therefore, in the female connector described in Document 2, the housing is provided with a lock arm protection wall no as to cover the rear end portion of the lock arm via a space. Accordingly, the occurrence of excessive turning up of the lock arm or the lock arm being broken is reduced.